Research by McKinsey & Company into plastics and the sustainability challenges facing cities will inform McKinsey.org’s work to build sustainable communities and help cities manage waste.

More than a decade ago, McKinsey & Company published its revolutionary greenhouse gas cost curve. Since then, the firm has continued to help businesses, governments and not-for-profit organizations to address the sustainability and resource productivity challenges they face.

Shannon Bouton, who as COO of McKinsey Center for Business and Environment (MCBE) led research that sought to help global leaders make better decisions on sustainability questions, will drive McKinsey.org’s work to help build sustainable communities, looking first at how cities can use recycling to better manage waste.

“As cities continue to grow, so do the sustainability challenges they face,” says Shannon. “From MCBE’s research, we know there are leaders who want to act and we know there are promising ideas that could be part of the solution. What we hope to do at McKinsey.org is build powerful partnerships that can identify solutions that can be scaled and achieve the triple bottom line goal of being good for people, the environment, and have a positive return on investment.”

McKinsey & Company’s recent research has included:

• A strategic approach to climate action in cities—focused acceleration, a November 2017 report, in partnership with the C40 network of cities committed to addressing climate risks, which finds that prioritized efforts by cities could achieve 90 to 100 per cent of the emissions reductions they need by 2030
• The new plastics economy: Rethinking the future of plastics, published in January 2016, with MCBE’s support, by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a leading UK-based nonprofit which advances thinking on creating an economy that is restorative and regenerative by design—the so-called Circular Economy.
• Stemming the tide: Land-based strategies for a plastic-free ocean, a report by Ocean Conservancy and MCBE in September 2015, about plastic-waste leakage into the oceans and potential solutions